Initial characterization efforts of Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) technology showed that efficient conversion of electrical energy into in-band emitted radiation could be achieved. Results previously reported showed that 25J of electrical energy can be converted into 0.38J of in-band, 13.5nm radiation emitted into 2 pi steradians. This prototype configuration demonstrated a 1.5% conversion efficiency into 2 pi sterdians, but exhibited several major drawbacks. The two greatest issues were excessively high stored energy per pulse and poor stability of the plasma size and position. Such high input energies would limit the maximum pulse repetition rate and poor plasma stability would lead to excessive electrode erosion and large integrated source size. Recent efforts have concentrated on reducing the required input energy while simultaneously improving stability. The result of these efforts is a DPF system that exhibits stable operation with as little as 1.5J of input energy and has demonstrated pulse repetition rates as high as 2500Hz. Once a stable, low input energy DPF was achieved, this prototype DPF device was fitted with a simple Lithium vapor delivery system. Pinhole camera images of the Lithium vapor source show that it is stable with a size of less than 350 mu m FWHM. In this technology's present state, the potential in-band collectable EW optical power is estimated to be 6.9W.
